Today, as we near the end of this series of posts, let’s discuss the “N” in C.L.O.S.I.N.G. the Back Door. The “N” stands for Notice What’s Happening with People. Every church needs a way to keep up with people and to track their progress toward successful assimilation.
Several affordable, customizable computer programs exist for that purpose. We’ll look at some of the options below, but in a small church, you can track people with a simple spreadsheet or notebook system fairly effectively if you do not want to use a computer.
There are two basic approaches to church management programs–software-based and web-based. With a software-based approach, the church buys a software package from a supplier and installs it on the church computer or network. The information they enter is actually stored on their equipment at the church. They will likely want to purchase periodical software updates from the software company.
With a web-based approach, the church buys the ability to utilize a company’s website where they enter, store, and manage their data. They can login from any computer by the use of a password. There are advantages to both approaches, but we’ll save that for a future post.
Here are some of the common names in these two areas listed in no particular order:
Software-based:
Web-based:
For more details about CLOSING the Back Door see the entire series:
